


Can't Do This Alone

by hauntedpapyrus



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Revelations Route, slight ooc because I hate some of how Ryoma is written in the game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-27
Updated: 2016-04-27
Packaged: 2018-06-04 20:58:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6675223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hauntedpapyrus/pseuds/hauntedpapyrus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little Ryoumarx proposal fluff that we all needed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Can't Do This Alone

**Author's Note:**

> It's exam time and I'm starved for Ryoumarx content. So I wrote some. I haven't posted a fic in years, so hopefully it's good.   
> Shout out to ultramarcypan for making sure my grammar was up to par and for coming up with headcanons with me instead of taking notes.

Brushing Ryoma’s hair has always been a two person job. He insisted on keeping it long and allows it tangle as he goes about his day. For most of his life, either Kagero or one of his sisters helped him brush out the knots. That was until Xander came into the picture.

Xander looked up at the sound of the door opening. He smiled when he saw Ryoma walking towards the bed and promptly falling onto it. “Long day?” He asked as he reached out to stroke his lover’s wet hair. Ryoma didn’t bother to lift his head, only responding with a loud groan. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Xander tried his best to stifle his laughter.

Ryoma moved to rest his head on his arms so he could glare at his lover. “You laugh, princeling. But I didn’t see you out there today laying stone.”

Xander stopped laughing long enough to press a kiss to Ryoma’s cheek. “I know, love, I know.” He sat up to look at his lover’s exhausted face, gently cupping his jaw. “And your people appreciate it. It does a lot of good for moral to see a king lending a hand in reconstructing his city.” Ryoma’s glare softened as a thumb ran over his cheekbone. He turned his face to nuzzle Xander’s hand. Xander moved his hand to comb through the wet locks framing Ryoma’s face. “Come on, love. Sit up so we can brush through this nest and go to bed.” He got off the bed to grab two brushes while the other man slowly pushed himself up.

Ryoma gave his lover an appreciative smile as he was handed a brush and waited for other to settle behind him. They worked in silence, Xander occasionally humming to himself. He was always so gentle with Ryoma’s hair. Where others had ripped through the knots, Xander slowly worked them out. If he happened to pull a little too hard, he’d always kiss the spot and murmur apologies into Ryoma’s hair. It was one of the many things that Ryoma loved about the prince, and one of the many things he’d miss when reconstruction eventually ended and they had to part ways. The thought made his chest tighten. The two princes— _no, kings_ — had grown close during the war, and Ryoma had fallen hard for Xander. He had come up with a plan to ensure that they’d never have to part ways. He just hoped Xander would find it agreeable.

“Ryoma?” Xander’s voice snapped him back to reality, “Your shoulders tensed up. Are you okay? Is there something you want to talk about?”

Ryoma grit his teeth, it was now or never. “Just… just thinking about when this is going to end.”

“I know it’s going to take a while, but reconstruction will get done. We’ll finish these peace talks, and it’ll all be over.” Of course Xander didn’t get it. The man was amazing with politics and a master with his sword. But sit him down and talk about his feelings, and he would completely miss everything.

“No, not rebuilding.” Ryoma put down the brush before turning towards his lover. “I’m talking about _this_. You and me.” He stared into Xander’s eyes, watching for the moment where it clicked together.

“Ryoma, why would we end?” Xander put his brush down to take the other’s hands, “I love you, and I _hope_ you love me. I don’t see why we have to end.” Xander held eye contact with Ryoma, searching for the answers in his lover’s eyes.

“Of course I love you!” Ryoma kissed the other man, pulling back before he let himself get carried away. He had to do this now. “We’ll finish rebuilding eventually, and negotiating an alliance. And then, what? You go back to Nohr and I stay here? We see each other occasionally, have a few stolen moments, and go back to being alone?” He paused, the mere thought of not seeing Xander every day making him sick. By the look on Xander’s face, he didn’t seem to like that idea either.

Xander had dropped eye contact long ago, choosing to stare at their joined hands instead. “What do we do then, Ryoma?” He whispered, blinking back tears. Ryoma didn’t answer right away. He slid his hands away to wrap his arms around Xander, who clung to him in return. “Tell me what we do because I can’t do this without you.”

“I have an idea. But I need you to hear the whole thing before you answer me, okay?” They pulled back from each other just enough to see each other’s faces. Xander nodded, teeth worrying his bottom lip. A pause. A kiss for good luck or goodbye, depending on Xander’s answer, before Ryoma started.

“I’ve been thinking lately how to keep us together. And I think the solution in an alliance. Not the piece of paper we’re going to sign that says we’re allies. I mean an alliance between royal families, between us.”

Xander’s eyes widened, “Ryoma, are you proposing?” His answer was a shaky smile and one finger asking him to wait. Ryoma slid off the bed to pull something from underneath it. He rummaged around for a minute before reemerging with a long object wrapped in cloth.

“I thought about this during the war, and I’ve thought about it every day since it ended.” He slowly held out the object to Xander, who tentatively took it. Ryoma continued to speak as Xander unwrapped the cloth, “It’s my first sword. In Hoshido, it’s tradition to give the one you love something important to you when proposing. It’s symbolizes you giving yourself to them, and allowing them in.” He watched Xander slowly remove the blade from its sheath and look at it in awe. “It was a gift from my father. It’s one of the few things I have left from him,” He smiled as his eyes met Xander’s, “Now I want you to have it. Live with me, rule with me, grow old with me. Do this with me because I can’t do it without you, either.”

Xander looked down to watch the blade slide back into its sheath. He gently set it down before holding his arms out, “Come up here and kiss me.” Ryoma launched himself into his love’s arms, meeting his lips in an enthusiastic kiss. They stayed pressed together until the need for oxygen grew too strong.

“You gave me your first sword.”

“I did.”

“You asked me to marry you.”

“I did.”

“You asked me to grow old with you.”

“And then you kissed me instead of answering.”

“Was that not enough of an answer for you?”

“Are you saying yes?” Xander’s eyes shone as he smiled at Ryoma, leaning in to kiss him once again. “Yes,” he murmured against his lips. “Yes,” he murmured against his cheeks, his jaw, his forehead, his nose. Xander kissed Ryoma’s entire face while muttering “yes” over and over. He would’ve kept going if Ryoma hadn’t grabbed his face and pressed their lips together again. Later on, a thought hit Xander as he was snuggling into Ryoma’s side. He tried to smother his laughter in his lover’s chest, to no avail.

“What’s got you giggling now, princeling?” Ryoma combed an unruly curl away from Xander’s face as he waited for an answer.

“Oh nothing, love. I just thought of the look on Corrin’s face when we asked them to pick a side again.” Ryoma threw his back and joined his fiancé’s laughter. A sight that Xander was looking forward to seeing for the rest of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully you enjoyed this, because I enjoyed coming up with this sappy idea. Also the unintentional Chicago reference. Kudos would be a welcome confidence boost <3


End file.
